Tomland Star Raiders Archive Launches
Tomland (a UK Company who was in the Marx family of companies) marketed these fun and strange 8 inch mego-like action figures under a variety of names but the best known is “Star Raiders” which were obviously meant to cash in on the renewed interest in Sci Fi thanks entirely to “Star Wars” coming on scene.
Star Raiders hadn’t been Tomland’s first kick at the knock off can, they got their feet wet with “Famous of Monsters of Legend” an attempt to cash in on the AHI/LIncoln/Mego 8″ Monster craze of the mid 1970s and they followed up with “Creatures from other Worlds” which apes the Mego Star Trek Aliens line.
When Star Wars came up, they merely repackaged all of these previous characters, created 8 new, somewhat copyright infringing ones and bundled them as “Star Raiders” and then later “Star Command”.
What we have here is the beginnings of an archive, which will include every line mentioned. If you have items you’d like to add, please drop me a line. For now enjoy the complete knock off wonder that is the Tomlands Star Raiders Archive on PlaidStallions….
Other Action Figure Galleries on PlaidStallions
I guess they never let these across the border into Mississippi. If they did, I know I'd have memories of them, and probably owned a few (to supplement my Star Trek/Star Wars/SF collection.)
Tex
(who misses the days of non-tie-in space toys)